Letter opener



Dec. 1924- 1,519,816

L. s. WARD LETTER OPENER Filed Feb. 5, 923

L. .5. h/ATPD WWW Patented Dec, 16, 924.

UNl'l'ElZi FlilQE.

LEONARD S. WARD, 01E VALLEY CITY, IJQRTH DAKOTA.

LETTER OPENER.

Application filed February 5. 1923.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, LEONARD S. 'WAnn, a citizen of the United States, residing Valley City, in the county of Barnes and State of North Dakota, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in a Letter Opener, of which the tollowing is a speoiticatioi'i.

My invention relates to letter opening appliances and has particular reference to a device adapted to be worn on the finger of the user whereby envelopes may be cut and opened in a very etiicient manner.

The primary object of the invention to provide device of this character in the form of a finger ring equipped with a detachable knife blade for opening envolopes.

Another object the invention is to provide a device of this character in which the knife blade is equipped with means to anchor it in position against accidental relation when in use.

With these and such other objects is view as will be apparent from the description, the invention resides in the novel combination, construction and arrangement of parts her inafter described and claimed and illustra/ ed in the accompanying drawings, in which- Figure 1 is a perspective of the opener constructed in accordance with my inven tion;

Figure 2, an end elevation thereof;

Figure 3, a side elevation; and

Figure 4, a detail elevation partly in section illustrating the manner of mounting the cutting blade.

In detail, the device comprises an annular member substantially in the form of a linger ring 1 provided with recessed flanges and 3 on the exterior thereof, which flanges are spaced apart and provided with inturned edges at and 5 which are slightly inclined towards the surface of the ring 1. This construction provides in eflect a housing in which is adapted to slide the cutting knife 6 extending in a curve from a base 7 slidable in the housing and provided with lateral enlargements 8 and 9 to engage under the inturned edges l 5 of the flanges 2 and 3. At the base of the shank of the knife 6 is a forwardly extending spur 10 adapted a. UL

Serial No. 617,023.

to lie within the housing and bear against the exterior face of the ring 1. This spur extends in the direction of curvature of the cutting blade and when the blade is in position will eficctually prevent any bending or lateral displacement of the blade.

The blade being readily detachable may be removed and sharpened as desired. which will ensure a maximum service with the greatest amount of efiioiency in a device of this character, and, while I have illustrated and described certain details entering into the construction of this invention I desire it to be understood that I do not intend these as limitations, but that such may be used as will fall within the scope of the invention as claimed.

As illustrated in Figure 3, the blade sharpened only through a portion of its length, from the base up to the curved part thereof, the remainder being unsharpened. This is a particular advantage in cutting thick envelopes, cord and the like.

I claim:

1. A device of the character described comprising an annular band adapted to be worn on the finger of the user, upstrucl; flanges on the exterior face of said band intnrned edges on said flanges and disposed in equidistant spaced relation, a cutting blade, said blade having a curved shank and an enlarged base, said base being disposed between said flanges and underneath said inturned edges, and a spur carried by said base for retaining said blade in position.

2. A device of the character described comprising an annular band adapted to be Worn on the finger of the user, a blade projecting radially from the periphery of said band at one end and having a cutting edge on one of its sides, said blade having a laterally curved unsharpened extension extending in a plane parallel with the horizontal axis of said band and terminating in approximately the same plane with the opposite end of the band from which the blade projects, and means for detachably connecting the base of the blade to the band.

In testimony whereof I aflix my signature.

LEONARD S. WARD. 

